Russia's aircraft carrier plans still uncertain

MOSCOW, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- In the 1960s, the anti-aircraft-carrier lobby prevailed in the Russian navy, and instead of starting a new series, a third Project 1143 ship, the Novorossiisk, was laid down.

Work to build aircraft carriers, however, was continued -- by 1967 the Nevsky PKB, the country's largest producer of surface ships, had completed plans for a Project 1153 ship, which, though smaller than the previous 1160 project, was still a true carrier and, importantly, had a nuclear power plant. But the deaths of Defense Minister Andrei Grechko and Minister of Shipbuilding Boris Butoma put paid to the undertaking.

After the Novorossiisk was launched in 1978, the Nikolayev shipyard started construction of a fourth Project 1143 carrier. The new vessel was named the Baku and was to be fitted out with then non-existent Yak-141 fighter planes.

But the lame philosophy of Project 1143 was clear to everyone -- twice as large as British Invincible class light carriers equipped with Sea Harriers, the Russian vessels differed little from them in capability.

The missiles they carried, while increasing displacement and adding to costs, did not redeem them -- the ships proved cumbrous and underarmed, either as missile cruisers or light aircraft carriers. Normally configured aircraft, moreover, required a total redesign of Project 1143 ships.

The upshot was that, in 1982, when the Baku hit the water, the Nikolayev yard laid the keel of a vessel capable of carrying a full-bodied air wing of MiG-29 and Su-27 jets. Yet the ship, initially christened the Riga, proved another messy compromise: It had a ramp instead of a catapult and 12 Granit anti-ship missiles in vertical launch silos to complement the organic aircraft.

Even before it was launched, the first full-blown Soviet aircraft carrier changed its name from the Riga to Leonid Brezhnev. In 1987 it was renamed the Tbilisi and in 1990 the Admiral Kuznetsov.

The Kuznetsov has remained the only Soviet-built carrier. Its sister-ship Varyag, which was laid down two years after the Kuznetsov, was launched but remained unfitted, while the Ulyanovsk, a larger vessel with catapults and a nuclear power plant, was cut up on the blocks.

The Kiev, Minsk and Novorossiisk also suffered a sad fate. In 1993 they were decommissioned and sold to China as floating entertainment centers, while the Baku, renamed Admiral Gorshkov and sold to India, is currently being refitted as a standard aircraft carrier at Severodvinsk, Russia.

In the 1990s few if any debated the subject. The theme re-emerged in the mid-2000s, when it was declared that Russia needed several aircraft-carrying ships in its Northern and Pacific fleets.

The numbers mooted ranged from two or three to six or eight. Now plans envisage building five to six carriers over the next 20 years. Construction proper is expected to start after 2012.

Much as we might wish to believe in the feasibility of these plans, there remain several unanswered questions. What missions will the aircraft carriers and their escort groups fulfill? When and with what funds will Russia re-engineer (or build from scratch) the infrastructure of its naval bases for new ships? What types of planes will be based on them? How are their crews to be staffed? And lastly, how long will it take to build these vessels and their escorts, especially with the current personnel squeeze in the shipbuilding industry?

It is my fond hope that the Russian navy's command and national leaders know the answers to these questions. Otherwise, the Russian government and people will get at best a couple of unprovided-for ships, which will have to be sold after 10 to 15 years of service, or at worst, nothing.

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(Ilya Kramnik is a military commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

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